Article of headwear

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an article of headwear having a material representing a sport ball, including stitching resembling the sport ball, covering all or a portion of the brim or head-covering portion of the headwear.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of apparel, or protective clothing for individuals. More specifically, the invention relates to apparel for the head.

2. Description of the Related Art

Apparel commonly known as a “baseball cap,” or a “cap”, having a visor or brim and a head-covering portion, providing coverage for the top, sides and back of the head, are well known. It is also known to provide advertising in the form of a company logo or team logo on the head-covering portion of the cap. Typical caps are made of fabric, with a brim made of cardboard or another sturdy material, covered by fabric. One drawback of such caps is that the fabric wears off of the brim, becomes dirty, worn and even torn with a lot of use by the wearer. Furthermore, the brim does not typically provide evidence of association with a particular sport.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a cap with a sturdy brim, having a covering representing a ball, or other symbol associated with a particular sport. For example, the brim covering of the cap of the present invention may resemble a baseball, basketball, soccer, football, or tire tread from a NASCAR race car. The covering on the brim of the cap of the invention will typically resemble the material of the corresponding sport ball or tire tread. The cap of the invention further provides a logo to identify affiliate with or preference for a particular team associated with the corresponding sport.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawing forms part of the present specification and is included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to this drawing in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 1. illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the left side of the brim of the headwear, as viewed by a person facing the wearer.

FIG. 2 illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the left side of the brim of the headwear, with additional renderings of the football appliquè on two of the panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear.

FIG. 3 illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the left side of the brim of the headwear, with additional renderings of the football appliquè on four of the panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear.

FIG. 4. illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the right side of the brim of the headwear, as viewed by a person facing the wearer.

FIG. 5 illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the right side of the brim of the headwear, with additional renderings of the football appliquè on two of the panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear.

FIG. 6 illustrates a headwear of the invention, having a material resembling a partial football, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a football, placed on the right side of the brim of the headwear, with additional renderings of the football appliquè on four of the panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear.

FIG. 7. illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a partial basketball, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a basketball, placed on the center portion of the brim of the headwear, as viewed by a person facing the wearer.

FIG. 8 illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a basketball covering the head-covering portion of the headwear, including stitching resembling the stitching on a basketball, and further having a logo identifying the wearer's affiliation with or preference for a particular basketball team sewn onto the brim of the headwear.

FIG. 9 illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a partial basketball, with embroidery and stitching to resemble a basketball, placed on a portion of the brim of the headwear, and further having an appliquè indicating the wearer's affiliation with or preference for a particular basketball team placed on a separate portion of the brim of the headwear.

FIG. 10 illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a basketball, including stitching resembling the stitching on a basketball, covering a portion of the brim of the headwear. The material resembling a partial basketball is placed at the intersection of the head-covering portion of the headwear and the brim of the headwear and proceeds outward from the intersection without reaching any of the edges of the brim of the headwear.

FIG. 11 illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a basketball, including stitching resembling the stitching on a basketball, covering a portion of the brim of the headwear and further covering all or a portion of one or more panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear.

FIG. 12 illustrates an article of headwear according to the invention, having a material resembling a tire track covering a portion of the brim of the headwear, beginning at the intersection of the head-covering portion and the brim of the headwear and proceeding outward toward the edge of the brim of the headwear.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to an article of headwear, commonly referred to as a baseball cap, having an improved brim configuration which provides evidence of the wearer's preference for a particular sports team or professional sports figure. The baseball cap of the present invention comprises a head-covering portion, typically made of fabric, and a brim made of a sturdy material covered with fabric that is fixedly attached to the head-covering portion. The brim further comprises a material resembling a sports ball of the wearer's preference. The material provides additional support and sturdiness to the brim while at the same time identifying the wearer's sport preference. Typical caps of the invention will have a brim with a covering resembling a baseball, football, basketball, or soccer ball, including stitching such as that which appears on a baseball, football, basketball or soccer ball (see FIGS. 1-?). Other embodiments of the invention will have a brim with a covering resembling tire tread from a tire on a professional race car.

The headwear of the invention will generally further comprise a logo, placed on the head-covering portion of the cap at the side that is attached to the brim. The logo will identify the wearer's preference for sports team or sports figure, associated with the sport, the ball of which is represented on the brim. For example, when the brim comprises a material representing a baseball, the logo placed on the brim may be the Texas Rangers' logo, or the University of Texas Longhorns' logo. When the brim comprises a material representing a football, the logo placed on the brim may be that of the University of Oklahoma Sooners or of the Kansas City Chiefs. It is envisioned that virtually any logo representing any college or professional team corresponding to the type of ball represented on the brim, may be placed on the head-covering portion of the cap. Furthermore, when the brim comprises a material resembling tire tread from a race car, the logo placed on the head-covering portion of the cap may resemble the race car, with number, sponsors, etc. or it may represent the professional driver of the car, with his or her number.

The material resembling the sports ball provides additional sturdiness to the brim of the headwear by providing an extra layer of fabric. Furthermore, such material will typically be more sturdy and durable than the standard cotton fabric that covers the well known type cap. The material may provide additional durability to the cap by virtue of the nature of the material. It is envisioned that such material will be a leather, or leather-like material, or vinyl or rubber-like material. Such material will be sewn to the brim of the cap with stitching that resembles the stitching on the sports ball being represented on the brim of the cap.

It is envisioned that the entire brim of the headwear of the invention may be covered with the material resembling a sports ball, or that a portion of the brim may be covered with such material. In certain embodiments, an entire two-dimensional rendering of the sports ball may be represented on the brim of the headwear. In other embodiments, a portion of the sports ball will be visible on the brim of the headwear. When only a portion of the sports ball is visible on the brim of the headwear, it may appear on the left side or the right side of the brim, as it appears to a person facing the wearer (see FIGS. 1 and 4, for example). The portion of the sports ball may alternatively appear in the center of the brim.

In additional embodiments of the invention, the material resembling a sports ball may be placed on one or more panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear, as well as on the brim of the headwear (see FIGS. 2 and 3, for example).

All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. More specifically, it will be apparent that certain agents which are both chemically and structurally related may be substituted for the agents described herein to achieve similar results. All such substitutions and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. An article of headwear having a head-covering portion and a brim, said brim being formed of a sturdy material and covered with fabric fixedly attached to the head-covering portion, wherein said head-covering portion comprises a number of panels of fabric fixedly attached together to form the head-covering portion, and wherein said brim is further covered with a material resembling a sport ball, said material being sewn to resemble the sport ball.
 2. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles a football.
 3. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles a basketball.
 4. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles a baseball.
 5. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles a soccer ball.
 6. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles tire tread marks from a race car.
 7. The article of headwear of claim 1, wherein the material resembling the sport ball covers a portion of the brim.
 8. The article of headwear of claim 1, further comprising a logo identifying a team associated with the sport represented by the material resembling a sport ball, wherein said logo is placed on the front head-covering portion of the cap.
 9. The article of headwear of claim 8, wherein the team is a college team.
 10. The article of headwear of claim 8, wherein the team is a professional team.
 11. The article of headwear of claim 8, wherein the team is a professional race car driver.
 12. An article of headwear having a head-covering portion and a brim, said brim being formed of a sturdy material and covered with fabric fixedly attached to the head-covering portion, wherein said head-covering portion comprises a number of panels of fabric fixedly attached together to form the head-covering portion, and wherein said brim or one or more panels of the head-covering portion is further covered with a material resembling a sport ball, said material being sewn to resemble the sport ball.
 13. The article of headwear of claim 12, wherein the material further covering the brim resembles an item selected from the group consisting of a football, a basketball, a baseball, a soccer ball, and tire tread marks from a race car.
 14. The article of headwear of claim 12, wherein the material further covering one or more panels of the head-covering portion of the headwear resembles an item selected from the group consisting of a football, a basketball, a baseball, a soccer ball, and tire tread marks from a race car.
 15. The article of headwear of claim 12, wherein the material resembling the sport ball covers a portion of the brim.
 16. The article of headwear of claim 12, wherein the material resembling the sport ball covers the entire head-covering portion of the headwear.
 17. The article of headwear of claim 12, further comprising a logo identifying a team associated with the sport represented by the material resembling a sport ball, wherein said logo is placed on the front head-covering portion of the cap.
 18. The article of headwear of claim 17, wherein the team is a college team.
 19. The article of headwear of claim 17, wherein the team is a professional team.
 20. The article of headwear of claim 17, wherein the team is a professional race car driver. 